BAY CITY, MI —Running a drug stash house in Linwood and selling more than 100 cumulative grams of cocaine to an undercover police officer has cost a 29-year-old probationer almost 15 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington on Thursday, April 24, sentenced Fernando Castillo to 175 months in prison. After serving his sentence, he is to be under supervised release for six years.

Castillo in January pleaded guilty to one count of selling, distributing or dispensing cocaine. The prosecution dismissed five related charges.

According to court documents, Castillo on two occasions in April and May 2013 sold marijuana to a confidential informant from his unoccupied stash house, which was located a few miles away from his actual home at 3326 N. Huron Road in Pinconning. One transaction saw Castillo provide the informant with about 679.9 grams of marijuana, and the other 452.4 grams. The informant paid Castillo $1,135 for each purchase, court records show.

On three occasions in June, an informant bought about 26.76, 27.29 and 27.08 grams of cocaine from Castillo, also at his stash house. The informant paid Castillo $1,300, $1,200 and $1,300, respectively, court records show.

In July, an undercover officer with the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team — or BAYANET — thrice bought cocaine from Castillo in the Meijer and Menards parking lots on East Wilder Road in Monitor Township. The first instance saw Castillo sell the officer 27.44 grams of cocaine, the second 26.8 grams and the third 83.2 grams. The officer paid $1,300, $1,300 and $3,600, respectively, court records show.

The day of the last buy, July 18, authorities executed search warrants on Castillo’s home and stash house. At the former, they recovered three digital scales, plastic baggies, 6.2 grams of cocaine and $3,200, while at the latter, they seized a large scale, a press, Ziploc bags, ant $1,850, court records show.

Castillo was on probation at the time through Bay County Circuit Court, having pleaded guilty to delivery or manufacturing 5 to 45 kilograms of marijuana in 2009. He has previous convictions for delivery or manufacturing less than 50 grams of cocaine in 2004 and attempted animal fighting in 2006.

In addition to BAYANET, the case was also investigated by the Mid Michigan Safe Streets Task Force and the FBI.